Introduction

Some people like FPS games, others get all hot and bothered by strategy sims, and the online MMRPGs are packed to the gills. None of those genres really does anything for me. No, I get my thrills living vicariously through in silico racing—driving games. Starting with F1 Pole Position on the SNES, followed by the excellent F-Zero and the Super Mario Kart Series, things really started getting interesting when I bought a Sony PlayStation and one of its headline games, Gran Turismo. Instead of made up cars that all handled pretty much the same, this featured real cars that drove just like they did on the street, at least as far as the few I'd driven in real life.

The talented (although somewhat tardy) game scribes over at Polyphony Digital started what very well may be the best driving game dynasty in existence, next with the massive GT2, featuring over 700 cars including such wonderful oddballs as the Renault Espace F1 (a project of Renault Motorsport featuring their all conquering F1 engine and most of a Williams FW14 chassis underneath a carbon fiber MPV body.) After interminable delays, PD moved to the PS2 with their next release, GT3. Fewer cars than before, but anyone could forgive that after seeing the hoops they managed to make the ageing PS2 hardware jump through. I remember being floored by the sunlight streaming through the trees as I sped up the backstraight on Trial Mountain, and marveling at how accurate the rendering of the Monaco GP circuit was.

Gran Turismo 4's cream of the crop

The gameplay was taken to a new level of realism, but compared to its predecessor, it felt somewhat lacking in scope. Great things were promised for GT4, but no matter how many times I asked Ars game reviewer Ben Kuchera when it was coming out, delay followed delay. Eventually, however, it arrived, and expanded nicely upon the foundations laid with the previous iterations. So that was it, as far as I was concerned—want to game? Get a PS2. Yes, Microsoft had brought out the Xbox, but it never really grabbed my attention. Too big, and more importantly, no Gran Turismo.

Not one to be outdone, MIcrosoft set their sights on dethroning the king. One thing they managed to copy from PD were the delays—evidently bringing a top notch racing game to market is slightly trickier than either of them thought. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I left the store with a large green box and a copy of Forza, ready for more racing adventures.

Well, I've had the Xbox at home for a few months now, and after a fair amount of seat time with each game, what else but a comparison test. So get on your nomex, strap on the HANS device, and lets go for a spin.